When The Bough Breaks
by LadyCizzle
Summary: Steve makes a huge mistake that causes a criminal to walk free and Danny has finally had enough. Fearing he has no choice he gives Steve an ultimatum that could break their partnership and destroy their friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: What, two fics in one week. I know right but after much deliberation I had to write this. It was not only inspired by my thoughts on the show but SBG's fic Done so if you're on AO3 go check it out. Now I'm going to stop talking now so you can read. Hope you Enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: This show is not mine.**

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**Author's Note: Slight spoilers for 4x07 but nothing big. Note beta'd so all mistakes are mine. This story takes place a few months in the future. This goes out to all my readers out there who give me nothing but love for everything I post.**

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**When The Bough Breaks**

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"What? No, you can't be serious." Danny looked at ADA Karen Walker with wide eyes of disbelief. He had come to check in on a case that Five-0 had been involved in where a man had brutally murdered a family of three. Danny wasn't there for the arrest but he wanted to make sure that the man paid for what he did.

"Oh but Detective I am," Karen sneered, crossing her arms across her chest. "Not only did your boss conduct an illegal search, which is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment, he also used excessive force to get Charles Landon's confession, without properly mirandizing him first. And that's not even the worse part. No, the worse part of this entire fiasco is that the final arrest was made by an unauthorized member of law enforcement."

Danny shook his head. "Catherine is a member of the task force," he stated which caused Karen to scoff.

"Not according to the Governor she's not, who by the way, has yet to receive the proper documentation on Miss Rollins that would allow her to be an active member of Five-0 task force. And because she has yet to gain approval from the Governor she does not have the authority to make arrest thus making the arrest illegal as well," she explained.

"Please Karen," Danny pleaded with the prosecutor. "There has to be something you can do. That man...that man is responsible for a triple homicide in which one of the victims was a thirteen year old boy. That family deserves justice."

"Don't you think I know that Danny," snapped Karen angrily as she took a step closer to the detective who hadn't bothered to move. "I wanted nothing more than for Landon to be put away for the rest of his life and then some but your boss screwed up, big time. And because of it the judge had no choice but to throw out the case and there's nothing I can do about it. Landon walks. Now I have to explain what happened to my boss and hope that he doesn't fire my ass."

Danny released a shaky breath, shaking his head in disgust. "This is bullshit."

Karen let out a sigh of her own and nodded her head in agreement. "I know," she replied softly. "But for now there is nothing we can do."

"We need to fix this."

"We will but first you need inform Mr. McGarrett that his actions may not have mattered when he was a Navy SEAL but here, his actions have consequences."

Danny said nothing else as he watched ADA Walker turn on her heel and briskly walk away. In fact there was nothing he could say because she was right. What his partner had done was wrong and now they were all paying the price.

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Danny walked into the bullpen, to find Chin busying at the computer but Steve was nowhere to be found. It didn't take long for Danny to hear voices coming from Steve's office. "McGarrett," he spat out viciously as he walked into Steve's office to find his partner as well as Catherine in there talking. "We need to talk."

Steve gave Danny a wave. "Can it wait Danny, Cath and I were in the middle of something."

"I'm sorry, did I give you the impression that I needed to talk to you at any other time other than this very second. No, I didn't think so!" he yelled, not even giving Steve the chance to respond.

This caused Steve to stand up and frown unhappily at Danny. "Okay what the hell is your problem?"

"You, you giant jackass. You're my problem. Because of you of and your idiotic ways Charles Landon's case was thrown out," explained Danny as he walked out of Steve's office and in the middle of the bullpen.

This caused Chin to look up, confused by the news. "What, why?" he asked suspiciously, leaning against the computer.

"Because of Steve!" Danny shouted, pointing an accusing finger at his partner. "Because Steve conducted an illegal search, used excessive force, and let his girlfriend assist in the arrest the judge had no choice but to dismiss the case."

"Catherine is a member of Five-0 now Danny," replied Steve bitingly.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Really? Well tell me this Steve did you ever submit her paperwork to Denning so that he could sign off on it."

"Well no but-"

"There is no but McGarrett," growled Danny heatedly. "As far as the Governor is concerned she's an ex-naval officer who happens to be your girlfriend. She's not a member of law enforcement. She does not have the authority to go around making arrest. Hell, she shouldn't even have a goddamn badge. They're not hall passes Steve; you can't just give them out whenever and to whomever you damn well please."

Steve folded his arms across his chest as he glared at Danny. "Where is all this coming from?" he spat. "You didn't say anything when I asked her to join the team. You were there when I told her to keep the badge."

"That's because I thought you'd follow proper procedure and get the Governor's approval after you asked her to stay," implied Danny. "And as for the badge, you mean the one she shouldn't have had in the first place. One that she used to attack an unarmed man and hold him against his will in order to get information out of him under the guise that she had the authority to do so."

"I wanted to help Kono and Steve gave me the badge for protection," Catherine inserted, trying to diffuse the situation. "He did what he thought was right."

"It doesn't matter because he's actions were wrong. Your actions were wrong and if it ever got out about what you two did there would be hell to pay. And that payment would come out of all our asses because Denning would sure as hell rip us a new one."

Steve slammed his hands down on the table, glaring at his partner. "I'm the leader, this is my team."

"You may be the leader but this is still the Governor's task force and at the end of the day we have to answer to him. All of us. But none of this changes the fact that you screwed up."

"I did my job."

"No, you did what you would do if you were still in the Navy which is doing whatever you have to do to get the job done. If that means torture, then so be it as long as the ends justify the means right. But here, on this job, we are not soldiers we're cops and we have rules and laws we have to follow to make sure that the bad guys are locked away."

"Why are you saying this now?" asked Steve, yelling slightly. "After four years of working together why are you bringing this up now?"

This time Danny didn't hold anything back. He was tired of biting his tongue when it came to his partner's action and it was time to let it all out. "Are you fucking kidding me!" shouted Danny as he ran his hand through his hair. "Since day one, when you hung that guy from the roof, I've been telling you that your behavior and attitude towards correct procedure was troublesome and would backfire one day. I've been trying constantly to be your voice of reason, trying to steer you in the right direction, keep you from crossing the line between right and wrong but you don't listen and I got tired. I got tired of trying to get you to listen to me and overtime I just let it go. That, that's on me," he finished softly.

Steve let out a growl. "I don't need you to be anything for me Danny. I know what I'm doing. I've been trained for ops you couldn't even begin to comprehend," he replied hysterically.

"And that's what makes you a bigger son of a bitch than you already are!" Danny yelled back, hands flying. "You think that just because you were trained as Navy SEAL that you know better than us mere cops but you don't. We may not know how to infiltrate a terrorist camp or overthrow a dictatorship government but we are trained to serve and protect the innocent people of this country. We were trained to respect the laws that have been established to maintain order," Danny stated confidently and brazenly. "And because of your blatant disrespect for the law a cold-blooded killer gets to go free and we don't even know if we can build another case against him."

"We can build another case," Chin stated, walking over to Danny and placing a hand on his shoulder but Danny instantly shrugged it off. "We just have to find more evidence."

"And what if we can't, huh Chin?" replied Danny bitterly. "What if this was our one shot to put this bastard away and we blew it? We blew it and now the family will never have justice for what happened to their love ones. I couldn't forgive myself if that happens and I have no idea how you would either," referring to the fact that Chin was just like him. While a member of the task force Chin was still a detective with many years of experience when it came to criminals and crime. If anyone could understand how he felt it would be Chin.

"Danny I'm sorry I screwed up and all I can do is try and fix it. What more do you want from me."

Danny heard Steve's words but he could hear Steve's nonchalant tone and it grated on his nerves even more. No matter what he said it wasn't getting through. That's when he knew he had to do something. "Nothing," he whispered softly before letting out a sigh. "Nothing else because I'm done."

All three members let out a staggering breath. "What?" asked Steve, griping the side of the table? "What did you say?"

"I said I'm done," repeated Danny, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm done and I can't do this anymore," his voice and his stance firm.

Catherine was the first to respond. "Danny don't you think you're going a little overboard," she stated, rubbing small circles on Steve's back. She could understand what Danny was saying but didn't believe it was a good enough reason for the threat he was making. "Being a little too emotional about this entire situation."

Danny simply shook his head and scoffed at the woman. "No Catherine I don't and frankly this has nothing to do with you or what you think."

"Don't talk to her that way," snapped Steve.

Danny snapped back. "I'm sorry but it doesn't. This has to do with you and the fact that you think you're above everyone else in this room. This has to do with me, crossing lines I shouldn't and turning into the very people I swore to put away," he hissed. "This has to do with me being able to look my daughter in the eye and have both of us believing that I'm still a good person no matter the things I've done. And I won't be able to do that anymore if I keep following you on the path that you're on. Unless Steve, you promise to listen and stop doing things your way because you think its best way," he all but pleaded. "Because sometimes those ways end up doing more harm than good."

This time it was Steve's turn to scoff. "So what, you're giving me an ultimatum. I'm not a child Danny."

"It's not an ultimatum. I'm giving you a chance to do the right thing."

"And what if I say no? What then, you just walk away, hand in your resignation and go back to HPD."

Danny shrugged. "If that's what it takes then so be it but Steve, it doesn't have to be that way. Not unless you want it to be."

"And tell me why should I listen to you because last time I checked you are my subordinate," barked Steve spitefully as his partner, refusing to back down. "You work for me."

Danny shook his head once more. "See, that's where you're wrong. I work for the state of Hawaii and they are the ones that entrusted me with the job to serve and protect the people of this island. A job that I have severely been ignoring for a long time now but not anymore. Deep down I'm a cop. It's what I've always wanted to be and it's time I remember that," he replied, releasing a shaky breath.

Steve's entire body went stiff as he looked Danny. His partner, best friend, the one person who stood by him through everything. Danny knew almost everything about him, all his secrets, and now he was threatening to do the one thing that Steve had always feared. "So that's it. After everything that I've gone through," Steve's voice barely above a whisper. "After everyone that I have lost you're simply going to walk out on me. Leave me behind."

Danny's voice trembled as he spoke. "It will hurt like hell to leave Five-0," he replied. "To leave you but I need to do what's best for me and my daughter. I need to be able look at myself in the mirror and like what I see. I need to be the man I used to be before I met you."

"And what about me?"

"If I have to lose you to save me than so be it."

The seconds crept by slowly as the partners simply looked at each other, neither one speaking. Chin and Catherine could do nothing, instead choosing to remain quiet out of fear of making the situation worse. Finally Danny broke the silence.

"Look, I think it would best for both of us if I took the rest of the day off. I need time to think and whether you want to admit it or not you do too." He slowly turned around and made his way out of the office, not once looking back. Danny didn't know what was going to happen between him and the team but one thing was certain, he wasn't backing down.

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Thanks for reading and please, don't hate me but it had to be done. I totally feel that old Danny, season one Danny would have totally been against Catherine using that badge and I don't care what anyone else says. I will say this, if the people want there may be a sequel to this fic but only if that's what the people want.

BTW in my head ADA Walker was played by the talented Lana Parrilla who plays Regina Mills aka The Evil Queen on Once Upon A Time. I love her so much.

Life is hard. That's all I got.

LadyC


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: Hey guys, for all of you who didn't already know there is a sequel to this fic titled 'The Cradle Will Fall'. If you've already read it great but if you haven't, drop by and give it a quick read. You won't be sorry.**

**LadyC**


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